


Take a Break or I'll Make you Take One

by JetGirl1832, tomatopudding



Series: The Hamilton Family Album [31]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Disney World & Disneyland, F/M, Family Fluff, Gen, Summer Vacation, Vacation, forced vacation, take a break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 05:28:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6691477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JetGirl1832/pseuds/JetGirl1832, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatopudding/pseuds/tomatopudding
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As usual Alexander is working way too hard. But this time someone is going to do something about it. Can anyone say Disney World?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take a Break or I'll Make you Take One

Alex had no idea why he was being called in to see the president’s office but here he was.

  
“I wanted to talk to you about something very important Alexander,” Washington leaned forward at his desk.

 

“What is it sir?” Alex asked.

 

“Something that would be very beneficial for you.”

 

“Sir?” Alex raised his brow.

 

“Son, you are working too hard,” Washington sighed.

 

Alex scoffed, “Sir, I’m just doing my job.”

 

“Son, you have gone above and beyond I think it might be good if you to take a break.”

 

“A break?”

 

“Get away with the wife and kids for awhile, go and do something fun,” Washington continued.

 

“But there is so much work to be done here-”

 

“Alexander-”

 

“Sir,” Alex spoke firmly, “please just let me do my job.”

 

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” Washington was reaching into his desk.

 

Alex was about to say something but instead he just watched in confusion, “What are you doing?”

 

“I figured you we're going to be a hard ass about this,” Washington chuckled, “so I took it upon myself to book your vacation for you.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Starting next Monday you are going to be spending the next five days in sunny Orlando,” Washington passed the folder in his hands over to Alex.

 

Alex opened it to see information on tickets for a flight to Florida for his entire family, and passes to Disney World, “Sir we can’t…”

 

“You have to,” Washington leaned back in his chair, “the trip is already paid for, you’re going.”

 

“But Sir!” Alex protested.

 

“Go,” Washington pointed to the door, “and don’t come back till you have a tan.”

 

“But-”

 

“Hamilton, not another word.”

 

Alex pouted and let his shoulders drop as he walked out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Honey we're going to Florida," Alex sighed as he walked in the door.

  
  
"I know," Eliza called out, "and why am I not surprised that you don't sound excited?"

  
  
"You knew?" Alex raised his brow.

 

"Of course I knew," Eliza laughed as she kissed him on the cheek.

  
  
"Is everybody out to get me?" Alex sank into a nearby chair.

  
  
"No," Eliza laughed, "and we aren't out to get you, we just think you need to stop before you work yourself into an early grave, I’m too pretty to be a widow.”

 

“Eliza I’m fine.” Alex got up and walked over to his wife and wrapped his arms around her letting his hands rest on her swollen belly.

 

“Two days ago I found you asleep in your office,” Eliza pulled away from his embrace, “you need to learn to relax.”

 

“I don’t need to go to Florida to relax,” Alex replied.

 

“Alright but this will be fun,” Eliza smiled, “and the kids are very excited.”

 

“They knew too?” Alex raised his brow.

 

“Well Angie and Philip know,” Eliza grinned.

 

Alex shook his head, “I can’t believe this.”

  
  


“Don’t be such a downer,” Eliza brushed her hand against his chin.

 

 

"I'm not a downer," Alex pouted.

 

"Don't be a petulant child," chided Eliza with a small laugh.

 

"That's AJ's job," Angie chirped and she peeked her head around the corner.

 

"Don't be mean," Philip said before stepping into the room, ruffling Angie's hair as he went.

 

Angie stuck her tongue out at him.

 

She made a show of brushing her hair back into place, "I can't believe we are going to Florida!" Angie exclaimed.

 

"Not just Florida," Philip reminded her.

 

"Disney World!" the two of them chorused excitedly.

 

"Hush," laughed Eliza, "It's still a surprise for your siblings."

 

Angie started giggling.

 

"I won't say anything," Philip promised, "I can't speak for her," he pointed at his sister.

 

"It's hard when the news is so exciting!" Angie said, "we never go anywhere."  


 

"That's not true," Alex replied.

 

"Actually it kinda is," Angie bit her lower lip.

 

 

Alex rolled his eyes, "You make me sound like such a bad guy."

 

"You're the meanest parent ever," Philip deadpanned, "How have we ever survived this life?"

 

"That's what Mama is for!" Angie spoke brightly as she hugged her mother.

 

Eliza laughed.

 

"At least I still have Philip," Alex said, turning hopefully to his eldest son.

 

"I suppose," replied Philip, although he was smiling widely.

 

"Alright who is going to help me finish dinner?"  Eliza asked.

 

"Ooo me!" Angie claimed, "And Philip has to set the table."

 

Philip rolled his eyes, but didn't protest, he went to the cabinet to fetch the plates and went to set the table.

 

"Daddy!" John came skidding into the kitchen.

 

"Little John," Eliza scolded lightly, "No running in the house."

 

"Sorry mama," John apologized quickly, "Hug daddy! Please!"

 

Alex laughed and scooped the young boy into his arms, eliciting an excited shriek from his youngest son. John wrapped his arms around Alex's neck and kissed his cheek, letting out a loud "mwah!" as he did so.

 

John let out a giggle as he did so and nuzzled into his father's neck contently.

 

"Uh oh," Alex laughed, "someone is stuck to me like super glue."

 

It was a favorite game of the younger boys, and even the eldest children when they were up for it, to glom onto Alex like leeches as he attempted to go about normal tasks. As of summoned by the words "super glue," James had soon entered the steadily crowding kitchen, wrapping his arms around Alex's waist and burying his face in Alex's chest.

 

"Super glue!" James announced, his voice muffled slightly by Alex's shirt.

 

Eliza turned away from the counter to look at them and she laughed, "Well I think dinner will be ready in few more minutes," she got out between giggles. A timer went off and everyone went to sit for dinner, except for AJ. Eliza sighed, "I'll go get him-" she slowly rose from her chair.

 

"No," Alex declared, "you are staying right here, I'll get him."

 

Alex rose and went to the boys' room. The door was shut tight and he could hear music. The doors and walls of this apartment might not be overly thick, but if Alex could hear the music all the way from out here then it was definitely too loud. Several attempts at knocking received no answer, so Alex entered. AJ was sitting on his bed, curled over the textbook in his lap and frowning down at the page. Alex flicked off the stereo and AJ looked up in surprise.

 

"C'mon, buddy, it's dinner time," Alex told him.

 

AJ let out a huff, "I'm not hungry."

 

"Come on AJ," Alex sighed, "you and I both know there is no way that's going to fly with your mother."

 

"I have summer reading," tried AJ.

 

"Son," Alex said with a slight firmness, utterly reminiscent of Washington's usual tone.

 

AJ looked like he was going to protest, but then he grumbled something under his breath and rose, tensing when Alex put a hand on his shoulder then relaxing ever so slightly at the short hug that followed. Alex resisted the urge to sigh when AJ twisted away from him and exited the bedroom with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. Shaking his head he followed his son back to the table where they all sat down to eat. As per usual they had their dinner time conversations of what they did that day. Angie talked excitedly about the fact that she had just found out she was in the same cabin as Theo and couldn't wait to go to camp in a few short weeks.

 

"Your father and I have a surprise," Eliza said when there was a lull in the conversation.

 

Alex still looked disgruntled about his forced vacation, but Angie and Philip grinned at each other.

 

"Tomorrow we're going to be going to Florida."

 

"On a plane?" John asked excitedly. He had never been on a plane before.

 

"That's right, Little John," Eliza praised with a smile, "on a plane. And do you want to know what we're going to do in Florida?"

 

James and John nodded in unison.

 

"Disney World!" Angie exclaimed, "We're gonna go to Disney World!"

 

"Really?" James asked, eyes wide, "Mama, really?"

 

"Really," confirmed Eliza.

 

The table was now buzzing with excitement.

 

"I wanna meet Mickey, and Minnie, and Goofy-" John rambled, "is Pluto going to be there?"

 

"I'm sure that Pluto will be there," Eliza said.

 

"Yay!" John exclaimed.

 

"Philip you gonna go on Splash Mountain with me?" Angie asked.

 

"Of course, if only to see how terrified you look in the picture afterward," Philip teased.

 

"Roller coasters don't scare me!" Angie replied defiantly.

 

Philip snickered and Angie smacked his arm.

 

"Aren't you happy, AJ?" James asked eagerly.

 

"Disney World is for babies," AJ mumbled, but the shine in his eyes gave away his true feelings.

 

"Is not!" James protested, too young still to read his brother's expressions at more than a superficial level, "Philip and Angie are happy!"

 

"Exactly," responded AJ.

 

Angie let out a huff, it seemed that out of everyone AJ antagonized her the most, "What is your problem?" 

 

"You," AJ shot back.

 

"I'm rubber and you're glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you," chanted Angie.

 

"Angelica and Alexander," Eliza said firmly, "enough."

 

Angie sank down into her chair knowing not to press any further, mama was always serious when she started calling them by their full names.

 

AJ turned his attention back to his food, moving it around aimlessly with his fork.

 

John and James continued to talk animatedly about exactly what they wanted to do at Disney World. Eliza rested her hand on Alex's, "See do you really think the trip is going to be that bad?"

 

"I suppose not," Alex conceded with a small smile. 

 

The next morning they had to get up early to get out to the airport for their flight to Orlando. Getting up early was not usually a problem in the Hamilton household (except for a select few) and they loaded up their suitcases and were headed to Washington-Dulles. There was some hubbub with John, who couldn't decide which stuffed animal he wanted to bring with him, but the problem soon blew over and the five year old was fast asleep in his car seat.

 

Angie was asleep as well as she was curled up against Philip whose arm was around her.

 

Philip and James both took after their father and, as such, they were wide awake while AJ was engrossed in his summer reading.

 

Eliza smiled as she glanced behind her, "I still remember going to Disney World with my parents," she laughed, "it's probably changed a lot since then."

 

"I've never been," Alex said lightly, "but I've heard stories." He glanced over at his wife and shot her a smile, his eyes flicking down to her belly briefly before he returned his focus to the road, "You'll probably be spending a lot of time on the sidelines."

 

Eliza huffed a small laugh and rested her hand on her belly, feeling the baby kick against it, as if reacting to Alex's thoughts.

 

"There's plenty of non-roller coaster things to do," she said, "Pretty much all of Animal Kingdom and a lot of EPCOT too."

 

"I have no idea what those things are," chuckled Alex.

 

"Well then you will learn," Eliza smiled, "I'm sure the kids can tell you."

 

Finding parking at the airport was he wash part. Wrangling five kids and several large suitcases was a nightmare. Luckily, Philip www able to carry John, so it wasn't as difficult as it could have been, but it was still a mess and Alex was sure that the nice man at the check-in counter hated them now.

 

And it only seemed to get worse as they went to security and were waiting in the line that seemed to stretch for miles.

 

"This is why we left so early," Alex grumbled as they joined the interminable line.

 

John started getting antsy while waiting and ended up being transferred to Angie where he clung to her back with his arms around her neck.

 

"This is boring," John informed his older sister.

 

"I wish I could make it less boring," she sighed.

 

"Let's play horsey," requested John, "Giddyup!"

 

Angie made a few quiet horse noises and started galloping in place, causing John to laugh.

 

The line inched forward and once they got past the TSA agent who was checking their ID's and boarding passes they started with taking of their shoes. Alex and Eliza making sure any liquids I one location. Alex then remembered he would need to remove his laptop and unzipped his bag to do so.

 

He froze for a moment and his heart beat rapidly in his chest. Last night he'd put his laptop in his bag, now it wasn't there. During the time they'd been at the airport he hadn't left it unattended so what could have happened to his computer.

 

"Betsey?" Alex put his hand on Eliza's as she was putting John's carry on into one of the plastic bins.

 

"Hmmm?" Eliza raised her brow, "what's wrong?"

 

"My laptop was in my bag," Alex explained, "and now it's not..." he tried to remain calm, "I think it may have been stolen-"

 

"No it hasn't," Eliza replied.

 

"But it's not there..." Alex furrowed his brow, "I put it there last night-"

 

"I took it out," Eliza explained.

 

"But," Alex sputtered, "Why?"

 

"This is a  _ vacation _ ," Eliza replied, "Therefore, you are not allowed to work."

 

"Betsey..."

 

"Alexander," Eliza replied firmly, "I don't want to hear anymore about this, besides it's not like we're going to go back to get it."

 

Alex looked for a moment like he might have been contemplating doing just that, but a simple arch of Eliza's eyebrow brought him back to his senses. Still slightly disgruntled, he hoisted his bag onto the conveyor belt and motioned for Eliza to go ahead of him.

 

"Nice socks," Philip snorted looking down at his sister's feet, which were clad in distinctly mismatched socks, "you couldn't even find one's the same color."

 

"Even better," Angie grinned as she pulled up where it rolled down to her ankle, "they aren't even the same height!" she proclaimed proudly.

 

"Only you would be proud of that," Philip rolled his eyes before the TSA agent waved for him to pass through the metal detector.

 

"Matching socks are boring," Angie informed her brother once she had reached the other side of the detector.

 

She waited until James bounded through and then took her younger brother's hand so that they could go start taking the family's carry-on items from where the scanner spat them out.

 

Once they collected everything and Alex finished putting back on his watch and belt they made there way to the gate. Philip and Angie were hard at work helping their parents keep John and James in line.

 

It was easier once they had boarded the plane. John was hard at work in one of his coloring books beside Eliza with Alex directly across the aisle from her. Behind Eliza and John sat AJ and James, the younger boy in the window seat with his face pressed to it watching the baggage getting loaded. In the row in front of Eliza and John, Angie and Philip were having a hushed conversation, their bodies curled to face each other as much as the restrictive seat belts allowed.

 

After counting the members of his family one more time, secure in the fact that they were all present and accounted for, Alex allowed his head to fall back against his seat and slipped into a doze as they prepared for take off. Two and half hours later they arrived in Orlando and a short time after that they found themselves at one of the many park resorts where George had booked their stay. They walked through the the lobby to the front desk, "This is beautiful," Eliza sighed taking it all in.

 

"I can't believe he did this," Alex muttered feeling a little embarrassed, he knew if it had been anyone else George wouldn't have done the same. There was no way he would have done anything like this for Jefferson or Adams.

 

He tried to keep his blushing down to a minimum, granted he knew when signing on with Washington he already was very close with him. Had been throughout college, and he knew it clearly didn't help his relationship with other members of the cabinet.

 

"Pretty!" John gasped, pointing out the Mickey-shaped light fixtures on the walls. 

 

Eliza handed Alex one of the keys, "Shall we go to the room?" she asked.

 

They walked down the hall and took the elevator up to the floor where their room was.

 

Alex slid the keycard in the door and it flashed green as it unlocked. The room was very nice, not that you could expect anything less at a resort like this. There were two separate bedrooms. One with a king sized bed and an ensuite, the other two queen sized beds. There was another bathroom and a small kitchen with a living space.

 

James and John looked around in shock and awe.

 

Once those suitcases were deposited in the proper rooms, Alex and Eliza in the master with the kids all together in the second room, and beds claimed--the highlight of which was John's excited shout of "I wanna share with Philip and Angie!"--the Hamilton family prepared to head out to the park.

 

"Where are we going first?" Alex asked, consulting the map that they had gotten from the front desk.

 

"Magic Kingdom!" Philip and Angie chorused.

 

"Don't worry, pops," Philip said, "I've planned everything out."

 

"Of course you did," Alex chuckled.

 

"Kids don't forget sunscreen," Eliza reminded them.

 

"Oh come on," Angie sighed, "Thanks to dad I'm only gonna tan."

 

"You say that like it's a bad thing," laughed Alex

 

"You still need to put on sunscreen," Eliza commanded, already beginning to apply it to John's face, which scrunched up under her touch.

 

After they were all smeared and had donned hats and sunglasses, Angie led the way down to the bus stop just outside the building where I bus proclaiming that it was going to the Magic Kingdom soon pulled up.

 

"We should totally do stuff together today! Like the Hall of Presidents and Price Charming's Carousel," Angie babbled excitedly, "and Stitch's Big Escape, oh! And the Haunted Mansion! It's not really that scary," she assured her youngest brother, who nodded bravely.

 

"Slow down," Alex interjected with a small chuckle.

 

"How can I slow down when there's so much to do?" asked Angie, her eyes wide.

 

"You sound like your father," Eliza said with a smile.

 

Angie blushed slightly, but she was beaming all the same as she climbed onto the bus with John's hand in hers. 

 

"Sounds like you're going to be our guide this trip," Alex told his daughter once they had all settled into their seats.

 

"No way," laughed Philip, "She would have us running back and forth to different parts of the park. I've made a logical plan."

 

"You are so weird," grumbled AJ, his arms crossed.

 

Philip ignored AJ as he took out the steno pad he usually wrote poetry in, he flipped to where he'd made notes about where to go in the park. "See I've got it all figured out!"

 

Alex leaned forward looking at the notes that his son had made which were exceedingly detailed.

 

"You would make a great lawyer one day," Alex complimented, "Very admirable note taking."

 

Philip made a face, "No way, pops."

 

Alex leaned back into his seat with a bark of laughter.

 

The bus started moving, Angie excitedly grabbed Philip's hand. Philip laughed as she did so.

 

In no time at all, they were joining the stream of people entering Magic Kingdom. Eliza made sure to keep all of the children in her sights in the thick crowd as Alex kept track of John, the boy sitting on his father's shoulders with his hands keeping a tight grip on the sides of Alex's baseball cap.

 

Philip had to try and keep Angie from dashing off every which way  as she looked around the park.

 

Even AJ was smiling a little as they emerged into Main Street USA, for once not protesting when James grabbed hold of his hand.

 

"Cinderella's castle!" James exclaimed, pointing towards it.

 

"Ears!" John added as he spotted a family of four wearing matching Mickey Mouse ear hats, "I want ears!"

 

Alex turned to look at Eliza, "Well?"

 

Eliza grinned, "Of course, it's part of the whole ritual of coming here."

 

They weren't poor by any means, but the extravagance of this trip not being fully on their shoulders gave Alex and Eliza slightly more leeway for purchasing souvenirs. Although, Alex thought as he glanced at the prices of the various items in the shop, it might still be painful to his wallet. It certainly didn't help that he wanted nothing more than to buy his children every little item that caught their fancy.

 

Angie was trying to pick a color for her name on the ears, and she understood that the woman was only trying to be helpful but...

 

"I don't want pink," Angie replied firmly.

 

"But you're such a pretty girl," the worker said as she flashed a toothy smile, "Pink would be the perfect color!"

 

An annoyed frown was unfurling across Angie's face, bordering on petulant.

 

"I want green," she ground out, "Not pink. Not purple. Green."

 

The worker's smile faltered slightly, but she quickly regained her composure, "Alright, then. Green it is."

 

"Thank you," Angie replied primly before making sure they also spelled her name correctly.

 

Soon the entire Hamilton family was outfitted with Mickey ears (although AJ was very reluctant).

 

"Eliza do you have the camera?" Alex asked.

 

"You think I would forget that?" Eliza smiled, "family photo?"

 

Alex grabbed the closest passer-by, a rather rotund man with a pink sunburn across his nose, who gladly agreed to take their photo and did so with a jovial command to "say cheese."

The camera clicked as he took a couple pictures before handing Alex back the camera. As they walked he looked at the outcome on the viewfinder. A smile slowly spread across his face. Eliza glanced over to look as well while she intertwined her fingers with his.

 

They get back to their room at the resort a little past 10:00 that night, Alex having been unable to resist his children's pleading to see the parade down Mainstreet USA. Despite it being well past his bedtime, even John is still wide-eyed and awake although Alex can see that it will probably be short lived once they get him into bed.

 

They let AJ take over the master bathroom for his shower while Philip takes John to the second bathroom for his bath. James and Angie tend to take their showers in the mornings, so they simply start digging through their suitcases to find their nightclothes and any other sundry they need for their respective night time rituals.

 

Philip had gotten John into the tub was washing his younger brother's hair, while he was still playfully trying to splash him Philip could see the five year old was getting tired.

 

"Mind if I come in to brush my teeth?" Angie's voice came through the other side of the door.

 

"Sure," Philip replied, shielding John's eyes so he could wash out the shampoo mohawk he had created.

 

Angie slipped through the door and closed it behind her, allowing the warm air to stay within the bathroom. As usual, she was wearing one of Eliza's old university t-shirts. She had recently had a growth spurt that had made it so that the shirt was no longer long enough for her to use it as a night shirt, so Angie was also wearing a pair of plaid shorts.

 

Her hair was in a long braid laying across her shoulder as she turned on the sink and uncapped her toothpaste. She then proceeded to hum to herself as she brushed her teeth.

 

Checking to make sure he got the last of the shampoo out of John's hair Philip grabbed a towel before proceeding to drain the tub.

 

Angie left them to it and returned to the bedroom the siblings would all be sharing for the next several days. Just as Philip had finished getting John in his pajamas and was about to dry the young boy's hair, Angie's distinctive squeal drifted through the door followed by an undignified shout of, "AJ, stop it!"

 

Philip and John came into the room to see AJ laughing as he clutched a pillow and Angie glaring at him.

 

"You are going down," Angie replied through gritted teeth she then grabbed one of the other pillows and hit AJ with a loud whack.

 

AJ immediately retaliated, his pillow catching Angie in her shoulder and making her stumble slightly. 

 

"I wanna help!" James took up one of the pillows.

 

"Jamie you're with me," AJ declared.

 

"That's not fair!" Angie pouted, her annoyance fading as all out war was beginning to take shape.

 

"Well then be glad you've got me," Philip set John down and joined his sister as John jumped onto the bed to watch.

 

James then went for Philip, although the difference in height made it a little difficult for his blow to be remotely effective. He tried again, Angie taking this as an opportunity to sneak behind him and tickle him.

 

James let out a laugh, "Angie!"

 

"No one said I couldn't," Angie replied grinning.

 

John then joined the fray not staying on either side but going after all of his older siblings the best he could for a five year old.

 

The commotion from the kids drew their parents attention and Alex went to investigate while Eliza continued her night time moisturizing routine. 

 

The sounds got louder as he hung around the door for a minute, opening it he narrowly missed the pillow that flew in his direction.

 

At that the pillow fight came to a halt and all of his kids stood there waiting to see what their father would do.

 

Alex had a hard time keeping a straight face as he stooped over to pick up the fluffy pillow that had landed at his feet. The grin was already pulling at his lips as he strode forward and used the pillow to give Angie a small tap on the top of her head. The kids took that as an invitation and Alex soon found himself engulfed in an onslaught of pillow attacks.

 

After awhile their energy levels dropped significantly, Alex sat himself at the foot of one of the beds and looked at his watch. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it's bed time."

 

"Awww," groaned James, "No!"

 

"Yes," insisted Alex gently, "Come on, into bed."

 

AJ and James had the bed closer to the window and AJ promptly pulled out his book and turned away from them to the lamp on the bedside table while James lay on his side facing the other bed. In the other bed, John settled between Philip and Angie with the blanket pulled up to his chin.

 

"Story?" John asked tiredly, his eyelids already beginning to droop despite his recent energy levels.

 

Alex let out a sigh, "Alright."

 

John smiled and took a moment to scoot closer to Angie and curl up beside her as she lay on her side.

 

"Now, where were we?" Alex asked. He had been spinning an epic tale for the past several weeks. He knew where he wanted it to end, but he just couldn't seem to get there.

 

"The dragon was about to breathe fire at the lady knight," John informed him.

 

As Alex told his story, complete with different voices and various sound effects, he become the sole focus of his enthralled children. The two eldest and two youngest listened without shame while AJ pretended to be still reading his book, although Alex could tell that the boy was hanging on to every word.

 

Soon they all began to drift, first was John with Angie following soon after with her arm gently on top of John.

 

Alex paused with his story and smiled as he tucked the blankets in around him, at some point AJ had fallen asleep so Alex took the book that had been laying on the bed and put it on the nightstand.

 

"Goodnight pops," Philip smiled.

 

Alex ruffled James' hair as the boy blinked blearily, barely awake, and pressed a kiss to the top of Philip's head.

 

"Goodnight," he returned softly as he left, shutting the door behind him.

 

~~~

 

The following morning, Alex was not the first Hamilton awake for once. Angie's knocking on the master bedroom open door brought him to consciousness. He found his daughter standing in the open doorway, her hair in a French braid and conspicuously wet which indicated that she'd taken a shower, her face open in a grin.

 

"C'mon dad," she said excitedly, "We have so much more to do in Magic Kingdom!"

 

Alex let out a sleepy chuckle and sat up, stretching his arms above him with a wide yawn.

 

"We're all waiting for you!" Angie insisted, before amending, "Well, James is almost done with his shower and AJ is helping John pick out a shirt, but we'll be ready soon."

 

"Alright, calm down," Alex chuckled, "I need to shower too, you know."

 

Angie gave an overly dramatic sigh, "I guess that's okay. But hurry!"

 

She skipped away. Alex swung his legs over the side of the bed with another yawn. Eliza mumbled slightly and he felt her hand rest on his lower back in a non-verbal "good morning." Alex reach behind himself and covered her hand with his briefly before getting to his feet.

 

When he exited from the bathroom, fully dressed and combing out his hair. Eliza was sitting up in the bed and she had her terry cloth bathrobe over her nightgown.

 

"Are you alright, my love?" asked Alex worriedly. She looked exhausted, but he didn't really blame her. Not only was she heavily pregnant, but he previous day had been a long one with an early start and late end.

 

I’m not feeling too great,” Eliza sighed as she pulled the robe tighter around her.

 

“That’s alright,” Alex smiled.

 

“But I want to go with you and the kids,” Eliza frowned.

 

“You rest,” Alex replied, “maybe go down to the spa-”

 

“But the kids-”

 

“We’ll be just fine,” Alex cut her off, “Betsey I’ve got this.”

 

“Are you sure?” Eliza furrowed her brow.

 

“How hard can it be?”

 

Eliza bit at her lower lip, sure she trusted Alex but she was less concerned about what he would do to the kids then what they would do to him.

 

"Dad come on!" Angie called out.

 

Eliza offered him a tired smile, "Have fun, I'm sure Philip and Angie can help you out if you need it."

 

Alex went to give his wife a kiss, then he lay his hand on her belly, "You and the little one get some rest," he smiled, "that's an order."

 

"Sir, yes sir," Eliza replied.

 

Alex went to join his kids.

 

"Where is mama?" Angie frowned, "is she not coming with us?"

 

"She's a bit too tired from yesterday," Alex explained, "so we're going to let her have a day off."

 

Angie ran off in the direction of the master bedroom and he could hear her having a hushed conversation with Eliza. She returned a few moments later.

 

"Okay, let's go."

 

There were even more people entering the park than there had been the previous afternoon, most people obviously happy to get up early enough to be able to enjoy the park to the fullest extent of the day.

 

"So man with the plan," Angie turned to her brother.

 

"Well I was thinking we could start-" Philip looked at his notebook.

 

"Why don't you two just go and do your thing," Alex suggested.

 

Philip raised his brow, "Are you sure?”

 

"You have your cell phone?" Alex asked.

 

Philip nodded and patted his pocket.

 

"Then go have fun," commanded Alex, "We'll meet back here at the park entrance at, let's say four?"

 

After giving them some money for food, Alex sent his elder children on their way and turned back to the other three.

 

"Alright, ready to have some fun?" Alex hoisted John onto his shoulders, "no wandering off or we'll just have to leave you here and you can live with Cinderella in her castle-"

 

"Dad," James laughed.

 

"What is it my Little Lamb?" Alex ruffled his hair.

 

"They won't let you do that," James replied.

 

"And just how do you know that?" Alex raised his brow.

 

James looked slightly worried and shifted closer to his father.

 

"That goes for you too, AJ," Alex said to the eldest of the remaining children.

 

"Whatever," muttered AJ, but his hands weren't in his pockets and he wasn't hunching over, so Alex took it as a success.

 

"What should be do first?" asked Alex.

 

"Can we have funnel cake for breakfast?" James asked hopefully.

 

Alex knew he should say no, but with two obvious--and one less obvious--sets of puppydog eyes aimed in his direction he found himself just the slightest bit helpless.

 

"I uh..." Alex could practically hear Eliza's firm but gentle tone.

 

"Please?" James begged.

 

Alex sighed, "Why not-"

 

The youngest if his boys cheered happily.

 

"But under no circumstances are you to tell mama," Alex added hastily.

 

James nodded dutifully, "Okay."

 

"Great," Alex nodded and the four of them went in search of funnel cake.

  
  


After having eaten, and been covered with 100% more powdered sugar, Alex herded the boys towards the first attraction of the day. 

 

"Dumbo!" John pointed when the walked past, "Daddy can we go on that?" he asked.

 

"Do we have a consensus?" Alex asked James and AJ.

 

AJ shrugged, "Sure."

 

Thus began Alex's day of getting dragged around, sometimes literally, by his youngest children.

 

The order in which they went on rides was dizzying as they went back and forth through the park. It was exhausting.

 

AJ kept suggesting roller coasters that the younger boys were still too short to ride, so arguments punctuated their walks between rides.

 

After a lunch filled with an inadvisable large amount of greasy and sugary food, they headed off to the spinning teacups at James' insistence.

 

The first round was fine but by the third John was tugging at Alex's shorts, "Daddy, I don't feel so good."

 

"Don't be a wimp!" AJ crowed, giving a particularly vicious pull on the mechanism in the middle of their cup that controlled how much it spun.

 

"AJ," Alex cautioned, "Stop that."

 

John was looking decidedly green when they exited the ride and was clutching at his stomach.

 

"Shit," Alex hissed to himself, searching for the nearest trash can, "Oh no, Johnny, please hold it in."

 

John couldn't really speak much at this point, he just weakly nodded his head in response.'

 

After a hurried conversation with a frustratingly smiley "cast member," Alex rushed John towards the closest bathroom. He didn't even pause to see if AJ and James were following. 

 

Trying to get John to move as quickly as possible he just wasn't fast enough. All Alex could think was that hopefully this day wouldn't get any worse.

 

This was, of course, the wrong thing to think. Although they made it to the bathroom, John didn't quite make it to the toilet before he lost his lunch. Alex was able to clean his son's shirt in the sink, but it was far too wet to be worn. He wrapped his light sweatshirt around John and found the nearest store, purchasing the first shirt that the boy, still green around the gills but obviously not going to throw up again, pointed out. It was then that Alex noted AJ and James were nowhere in sight. 

 

He looked around for any sign of his boys, from what he could see they were no where to be found. He began to panic, one day without Eliza and he lost AJ and James. He began to curse the fact that they hadn't gotten him a cell phone like he'd asked.

 

John seemed to sense his father's stress and stayed close to Alex's side and they retraced their steps.

 

Alex figured they couldn't have really gone off too far as they walked back towards the tea cups.

 

He couldn't spot them anywhere on the ride or in line so walking a little farther to the next ride he hoped to find them there.

 

"Where's AJ?" John asked.

 

"That is a very good question," Alex sighed when he was still unsuccessful in locating his sons.

 

Suddenly, he heard a very familiar laugh; it was James, he was sure of it. Alex pivoted on the spot, his heart in his throat, and finally spotted his errant sons standing next to a small cart that proclaimed "Dippin' Dots." With John practically running to keep up, Alex stormed over to the two boys.

 

"AJ!" Alex went over to his sons, "What do you think you are doing?"

 

"Getting ice cream," AJ answered nonchalantly.

 

"Look, dad, it looks like a bunch of tiny marbles!" added James, lifting up his small plastic cup so that Alex could see.

 

"That'll be six twenty," the man in the cart said, handing AJ his own cup.

 

AJ looked expectantly at Alex. Alex was so relieved that he had found the boys that he reached for his wallet without even thinking about it.

 

"I want some," pouted John.

 

Alex took a deep breath and released it as a sigh.

 

Alex ordered a small kids cup for John and they continued on their way, "Don't you run off like that again!" Alex spoke firmly.

 

"Sorry daddy," James apologized.

 

He turned his gaze to AJ, who looked unrepentant but murmured an apology anyway.

 

Alex sighed and shook his head, they did a few more rides and John and James insisted on getting their faces painted before going to meet up again with Angie and Philip.

 

The day had both gone by in a flash and been interminably long. All he wanted to do was sleep for about ten hours straight. The kids were all still bouncing with excitement on the bus ride back to their room. Eliza was going to kill him for letting them have this much sugar. 

 

Alex dragged his feet as he came back to the room to see Eliza on the bed reading a magazine, he flopped down face first, “I don’t got this-”

 

Eliza couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her husband, after all it was rare that he ever had to deal with all four of their children at once. On top of spending the whole day at the park… Well that certainly was not an easy task. She gently ran a hand through his hair, “Somehow you managed to stay alive.”

 

“Just barely,” Alex turned to face her, “how do you do it?”

 

“I’m magical,” Eliza smiled.

 

Alex chuckled lightly.

 

"Are you feeling any better?"

 

"Much," Eliza replied, "I had a massage."

 

She grinned as her husband let out a load groan.

 

"I would kill for a massage."

 

Eliza scooted closer to Alex and began running his back and massaging his shoulders, "I'm no professional but maybe this will help."

 

Alex sighed and allowed his eyes to close as Eliza removed his hair from its tie and rubbed at his scalp. 

 

"That better?" Eliza smiled.

 

"Mmmhmmm," Alex replied.

 

"Good," Eliza continued.

 

"Mom," Philip stood in the doorway there was an odd mix of concern and a smile on his face, "do we have aloe?"

 

"Sure, it's in the bathroom," Eliza replied, "why?"

 

"Little Miss 'I don't burn', she's as red as a lobster," Philip smirked.

 

"In the suitcase," Eliza replied, gesturing to where it sat by the door to the bathroom with her chin as she continued to gently scratch.

 

Alex's breath was evening out as he settled into a doze.

 

"Do you want me to just order a pizza?" Philip asked, tucking the bottle of aloe lotion under his arm, "Dad looks beat."

 

Eliza laughed lightly, "You know what they say about letting sleeping dad's lay."

 

Philip chuckled, "I'll bring some back to you when it comes."

  
He slipped out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Eliza shifted herself down the bed and Alex murmured sleepily as he shifted until his head was pillowed on her shoulder. He absently kissed her cheek, eyes still shut, and rested a hand on her belly.

**Author's Note:**

> Ages:  
> Philip-15  
> Angie-13  
> AJ-11  
> James-9  
> John-5
> 
> P.S: So exciting things are happening. If it just so happens that you like reading this series we've expanded. What does that mean? Well there is an entire text blog/tumblr aspect to this series now. So if you want to interact with your favorite members of the Ham Fam, now you can!
> 
> Alex- http://sot-a-ham.tumblr.com/  
> Eliza- http://e-sky-ham.tumblr.com/  
> Angelica Schuyler Church- http://inlcudewomeninthesequel.tumblr.com/  
> Peggy van Renneslaer- http://and-peggyvanrenneslaer.tumblr.com/  
> Philip- http://philthepoet.tumblr.com/  
> Angie- http://mon-ange-hamilton.tumblr.com/  
> AJ- http://aj-dontcallmejunior.tumblr.com/  
> Theo Burr- http://pagingdoctorburr.tumblr.com/


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